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Saturday, December 3, 2011

My Favorite Things

Wow, here we are already in December. If you're like me, you probably had a shock when you looked at the calendar and realized that Christmas is only a few weeks away and the New Year is not far behind that! So, rather than dwell on how I am soooooo not ready for Christmas, I decided to blog about all my favorite things.

First and most important is my Family. It never ceases to amaze me that I could have had only 3 kids, but my family now has expanded to include: 2 daughters-in-law; a son-in-law; 4 grandsons, 7 granddaughters, and this year, we added a cute-as-a-button great-grandson. We also added my spoiled princess of a dog, Sophie. It is wonderful day when I can be surrounded by them. I'm so proud of all of them. They are unique and wonderful individuals, although some days I'm not sure about the furry one.

Books, books, books! Like most writers, I love to read and have books in EVERY room of my house. Last month, I got to spend a lot of time with my grandkids and had the pleasure of discovering how much they all like to read, too. Having them ask if they can borrow books from my numerous bookshelves was music to this reader-and-writer's ears. One weekend, six of the grand were over and all but one of them had their nose in books or eReaders rather than watching TV or playing video games. Hurrah! I also helped introduce one of my younger grandkids (a previously reluctant reader) to the pleasure of reading on my Kindle (TM) over Halloween weekend. He took to it with such pleasure that his parents actually bought him an eReader for his birthday last week. Yes! I love that their parents' love of reading (and mine, too) has passed down to them.

I love the Holidays, especial Christmas. I love the decorations, the lights, the food, the traditions, the liturgies, the music -- although maybe not quite as much as my daughter who has an entire CD filled with various renditions of "The Carol of the Bells." I also have a huge collection of angels (ask Chel and Chris who went through my place one time and tried to count them all). I keep them out for most of the year -- Angels aren't just for Christmas, you know. There's nothing I don't like about the holiday, except maybe gift wrapping. In my humble opinion, the unknown person who invented gift bags is truly an unsung modern day hero! Seriously, the time spent with family and friends this time of year are always full of laughter and fun, and I love every moment of it.

Okay, as those who know me will tell you, no list of my favorites would be complete without at least a mention of two more things.
One is Office Supplies:

I'd like to say that my love for office supplies goes with the territory of being a writer. I'd like to say that, but I suspect I'd still buy office gizmo and gadgets even if I never wrote a word. In fact, I know I would. Of course, the grandkids love it, because there's always paper, scissors, tape, colored pencils, markers -- you name it, I got it -- available for craft projections when they come over. Most of the time, hey also get to take home a cool journal or set of colored pencils, too. It's like Jello, there's always room for more.

Finally there's my passion for SHOES.

I love them. It's as simple as that. Although some, who shall remain nameless (Chel), have hinted that it's an obsession. there's a reason why I love shoes. I'm not very tall, less than 5'1". For most of my life, I've worn 3" heels just to be considered short. Especially when all my kids and family tower over me. I wear them just to be able to see something more than their belt buckles. Besides, shoes are so pretty! All those styles and materials and embellishments! Ferragamo, Loubouin, Choo, Weitzman, Vivier...their designs make me drool. Unfortunately, the years of wearing toe-pinching, arch-stretching styles have made me turn to more comfortable shoes like ballet flats, but I still adore beautiful footwear. So much so, that one of my WIPs is a mystery about a shoe-store owner. Okay, maybe I am just the least little bit obsessed!

So now, I've told you my faves, so what are yours? Fill us in! I'd love to ear.

3 comments:

I think my favorites are pretty much the same as yours, except for maybe the shoes. And I do enjoy wrapping gifts, but I hate shopping for them. Online shopping has got to be the greatest development of our time.

My favorites are pretty similar - family, books, decorations and also online shopping. I do everything I can to avoid actual stores during the holidays. And I hate gift wrapping too - mine always look like a distracted toddler wrapped them.